January 29 - February 4 (Dane County Big Year)
Keeping up with all of this is like a second job! I’m going to re-evaluate how I am going to keep up with this blog. I mean how many of you are actually reading this right? I’ve been doing a pretty half-assed job here. A lot of time and effort goes into the videos though. Check out the video if you haven’t already.
Dane County Species: 60
Dane County Rank: 20
Monday, January 29, 2024
No birding.
American Kestrel
Coopers Hawk
Tuesday, January 30, 2024
I got to go birding today! Since I worked last Saturday, I took today off to bird. It was a fairly slow morning but things picked up. I added a few species to the Dane list. Something I didn’t show in the video was my drive around the agriculture field roads. It is by far my least favorite type of birding. There’s cars driving by, no where to park, it’s just not fun, but how else am I going to find a Lapland Longspur? I did it… didn’t get longspurs or buntings that I needed, but I did get a Rough-legged Hawk and American Kestrels! It paid off, but I would have loved to have picked up the longspurs and buntings, so that I wouldn’t have to go back out there.
Wednesday, January 31, 2024
No birding.
Thursday, February 1, 2024
No birding.
Friday, February 2, 2024
No birding.
Yahara Hills Golf Course
Saturday, February 3, 2024
A great day birding with Ryan. It got into the 40Fs and was sunny. I was going after sparrows (White-crowned and Fox). Did not find them. After a long day, we got a Telegram message about Red Crossbills at the golf course. We got there in about 15 minutes of the message, but still had no luck. Red Crossbills - my new nemesis bird.
Sunday, February 4, 2024
No birding.
Hotspots Visited:
UW Madison Arboretum Spring Trail Pond
Springfield Area Ag Fields & Wetlands
UW Madison Arboretum Big Spring
Eagle Heights Community Garden
Yahara Hils Golf Course
eBird Trip Report (January 29 - February 4)
Check out my video for this week: